Ona Dokalskaitė - Paškevičienė

(1912 - 2007)

Biography

Ona Dokalskaitė - Paškevičienė was born in 1912 in Seinai. She attended gymnasium in Panevėžys (drawing teacher - the sculptor J. Zikaron). In 1928 Ona Dokalskaitė - Paškevičienė with her mother moved to Belarus and settled in Vereceja (near Vitebsk). In 1932 she graduated from Vitebsk Art College. At first she painted caricatures for the newspaper „Čivonaja změna“, later - the magazine „Literatura i Mastacva“. In 1938 she participated in the exhibition of Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. She also took private lessons at Moscow Art Institute from I. Grabanis. In 1942 she returned to Lithuania and settled in Kaunas. In 1944 she went to Germany. In 1947 she participated in an international exhibition in Munich. In 1949 she moved to the United State and for a certain period lived in New York, since 1982 - Santa Monica, California. Her husband is the painter Mykolas Paškevičius. She has a daughter, who is employed by Walt Disney company.

Style

Ona Dokalskaitė's artistic style survived like a supple new growth upon the trunk of Socialist Realism. Immediately one notices the relationship of the compositions of her portraits and the arrangements of the still lifes with the works of the famous artists of early 20th century Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The romanticism so dear to the artist's heart intertwined beautifully with traditional realism.
If the stylistic language of Ona Dokalskaitė is based on both realism and romanticism, then her method of painting relies on the synthesis, and sometimes even the conflict, between graphic lines and colours. In every painting the artist seems to be trying to resolve this challenge. Characteristic lines and contours are prevalent in Ona Dokalskaitė's portraits. The transparently spread colour on the canvas gives only a hint of the depicted figure, yet communicates to the viewer a specific mood. The colorus are coordinated so subtly as to produce an effect somewhat akin to a musical chord, which is undisturbed by even the boldest, darkest contours.
The central compositions of the portraits direct the viewer's gaze toward a single point. In contrast, the artist's landscapes are constructed using different principles. Here depth is emphasized.